ROTC to Compete in Marathons

By Chris Glennon

If you thought breaking through the mental wall that most hit during a marathon was tough enough, imagine doing it with a 35-pound rucksack on your back. That's just what the heavy team sent by Santa Clara Reserve Officers' Training Corps will have to do when they compete in the Bataan Memorial Death March next month.

On March 17 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, teams consisting of competitors ranging from ROTC, active military, civilians and wounded warriors will compete in the event that memorializes the 80-mile march that American and Filipino soldiers were forced to endure following their imprisonment by the Japanese during World War II.

The heavy team will ruck the full marathon in full Army Combat Uniforms while carrying a 35-pound rucksack.

"Rucking is a combination of long strides and shuffling, where an individual usually goes at a 12-15 minute per mile pace," said Cadet Command Sgt. Maj. Nick Chung.

They will also send a light team, whose members will run the race outfitted in full Army Combat Uniforms.

Chung competed on the light team in 2011, but will be on the heavy team this time, which has placed more of an emphasis on utilizing the calf and shin muscles in order to get used to carrying the 35-pound weight. Still, he said regardless of whether or not you're on the heavy or light team, the main focus of training is on endurance and muscle memory.

"Training usually consists of rucking for five to eight miles once or twice a week," Chung said. "You want to get at least 20 miles in a couple weeks before the event and taper down from there."

Although it is a competition, Chung said the objective is to finish as a team and memorialize those who were in the Bataan Memorial Death March.

"(Our goal) is to finish in the fastest time possible," Santa Clara ROTC Cadet Batallion Commander John Schneeman said. "It is a team event so getting everyone across that line is the primary goal."

Depending on the number of cadets that volunteer for the event, the team captain uses performance measures to shape each team down to five members. This usually consists of a timed ruck or run where the fastest five make the team.

Unlike Chung, Schneeman and Santa Clara ROTC Batallion S-3 Eric Simmons have not competed in the event before.

"I've spoken to some guys who have competed in years past and they basically told me to prepare myself mentally for the suck and embrace it," said Simmons.

Schneeman said the most difficult part would be the mental aspect. "The second you put the weight on your back, it isn't comfortable," he said. "And doing that in a desert for 26.2 miles and in uniform is going to be a complete mental game. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we think, so it's usually our minds being put to the test."

Chung said there are a good amount of cadets in ROTC who have participated in the event in the past. "There is a healthy amount of advice given," he said. "What type of boots to wear, how to manage blisters and chafing, strength training, routes and recovery."

Chung won't actually be competing on one of Santa Clara's teams, but instead will be on a team started by another cadet and his father. The team is made up of prior service military and wounded warriors.

It is estimated that somewhere between five to ten thousand Filipino soldiers and three to six hundred Americans died on the march.

Contact Chris Glennon at cglennon@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.